U.S./World Sports category, Page 346

SAN DIEGO — Justin Rose missed a short birdie putt that felt like another bogey. His three-shot lead was down to one through six holes of the Farmers Insurance Open, and the biggest battle was trying not to panic. That’s when he scratched a line on his scorecard after six...

MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic was so good, so relentless, so pretty much perfect, that Rafael Nadal never stood a chance. Djokovic reduced one of the greats of the game to merely another outclassed opponent — just a guy, really — and one so out of sorts that Nadal even...

MOBILE, Ala. — Daniel Jones got his bad Senior Bowl moments out of the way long before kickoff. The Duke quarterback threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score in the third quarter to lead the North to a 34-24 victory over the South on Saturday, putting a nice...

MELBOURNE, Australia — So close to victory, Naomi Osaka suddenly was letting the Australian Open final slip away. Three championship points? Gone. A sizable lead? Soon all gone, too. She was playing poorly. She yelled at herself. Slammed a ball. Tugged at her visor’s pink brim. Trudged to the locker...

MELBOURNE, Australia — It was fascinating to hear Novak Djokovic explain what it will be like to face Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final. “The intensity that he brings on the court is immense,” Djokovic said. “Without a doubt, probably the most intense tennis player that I have witnessed...

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — Three Swedish skiers competing in this weekend’s women’s World Cup races helped save a course volunteer’s life before their first downhill training session. Lisa Hoernblad, who gave the stricken man first-aid after he suffered what she thought was a heart attack, followed up by finishing second in...

YORBA LINDA, Calif. — Courtney Force, the winningest female Funny Car driver in NHRA history, is stepping away from driving. Force is a 12-time Funny Car winner, was the No. 1 qualifer 28 times and ranked in the top 10 of the NHRA standings in six of her seven seasons....

MELBOURNE, Australia — Fifty years after Rod Laver won the last true Grand Slam in men’s tennis, he is fairly confident the feat will be replicated one day, unlikely as it may seem. “It’s got to happen again,” the Australian left-hander said Wednesday at the Australian Open. While Steffi Graf...

MELBOURNE, Australia — Four times, Serena Williams was only one point — a single point — from closing out a victory in the Australian Open quarterfinals. On the first such chance, at 5-1, 40-30 in the third set, she turned her left ankle awkwardly. The owner of the best serve...

MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams was one point from quite a comeback victory in the Australian Open quarterfinals when she turned her left ankle. Everything unraveled from there. In a startling reversal and result, Williams wasted four match points along the way to dropping the last six games of a...

MOBILE, Ala. — Gardner Minshew carved his own meandering path from walk-on to NFL prospect. He began as a walk-on at Troy, took a sharp left to junior college, bounced over to East Carolina, made a beeline toward Alabama and finally ended with one terrific season at Washington State. “I...

The World Anti-Doping Agency straddled the wide gulf between vindication and capitulation Tuesday, agreeing to keep Russia’s anti-doping operation in business after receiving much-sought-after lab data that could be used to prosecute hundreds of cheaters. But the decision came with a warning: Fool us again, and we can bar you...

MELBOURNE, Australia — Way behind in a match he soon would lose, Alexander Zverev leaned forward in his Australian Open sideline seat to repeatedly, and violently, crack his racket against the court with a reverberating thwack. — Eight times in all, before throwing down the offending, and now-mangled, piece of...

Top-ranked Duke went down early in the week. No. 2 Michigan and No. 4 Virginia, the last of Division I’s unbeaten teams, both fell over the weekend. In all, six top-10 teams lost. Tennessee kept rolling amid chaos across the AP Top 25. The Vols are the new No. 1...

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — What was evident all weekend for Lindsey Vonn became clear to everyone else on Sunday. The American skier’s surgically repaired knees simply don’t let her apply the power she requires to win races anymore. The pain is too severe; the psychological impact too much to bear;...

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Phil Mickelson made three long birdie putts on the back nine Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Desert Classic. Making his first start of the year, the 48-year-old Mickelson shot a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 on the Stadium Course at PGA...

MELBOURNE, Australia — Maybe Serena Williams will be tested in the Australian Open’s fourth round, because no one has come close to making her work too hard so far. Playing clean and powerful tennis, Williams overwhelmed 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 6-2, 6-1, on Saturday. Williams grabbed a pair of...

Glen Wood, the courtly and innovative patriarch of the famed Wood Brothers Racing team who had been the oldest living member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, died Friday. He was 93. He died on Friday in Stuart, Virginia, after a long illness. Wood Brothers announced the death of its...

MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer has played on Rod Laver Arena a hundred times and has six Australian Open crowns in his collection of 20 Grand Slam titles. The 37-year-old tennis statesman has developed a loyal following over 20 consecutive visits for the season-opening major. After beating 21-year-old American Taylor...

A professional bull rider died as a result of being bucked off his bull at the National Western Stock Show on Tuesday night in Denver. Mason Lowe, 25, was on the ground when the bull, weighing between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds, landed on his chest with its hind legs, according...

MELBOURNE, Australia — A side effect of not playing much for Maria Sharapova is the likelihood of having to face highly ranked rivals in the first week of a major. It doesn’t come much tougher in the third round than a match against the defending champion. That’s the equation at...

Bob Costas is officially leaving NBC. The legendary sportscaster and 28-time Emmy Award-winning journalist is wrapping up a 40-year career at the network, according to the New York Post. “It’s all settled quietly and happily for all concerned,” Costas, 66, told the publication. An NBC representative confirmed with the Post...

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley could not help but admire Jalen Hurts from a distance. He respected how the Alabama quarterback who lost his starting job to Tua Tagovailoa put the team above his pride. Hurts could have transferred right after Alabama went another direction, as so many quarterbacks do these...

PARIS — The crooked tennis players knew him as “Maestro.” To European investigators, the Armenian based in Belgium is emerging as something else: The suspected ringleader of an organized gambling syndicate suspected of fixing hundreds of matches and corrupting more than 100 players from around Europe. As Roger Federer and...

ATLANTA — A day after travelers waited nearly 90 minutes in snail-speed security lines at the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s mayor is concerned about the waits that could result when the city hosts the 2019 Super Bowl. The ongoing partial government shutdown is “uncharted territory” amid planning for one of...